AMERICAN LEAK DETECTION - FTW Demanding Payment for Unauthorized Service/Repairs; Threatening to Send Account to Collections & File Lien KELLER Texas
I called and scheduled an appointment for them to check our pool for a leak. I was told it was cost $538, and they would need a signed work authorization and credit card information on file before they would send a tech out. I asked them to send the form to my e-mail, and I would talk to husband about it.
After talking to my husband, we decided not to use them. I did not call and cancel the appointment as I believed them when they said they would not send anyone out without the signed form and credit card. Since I'd given them neither, I assumed the appointment would be canceled automatically.
A couple of weeks later while we were out of town, they sent a tech out anyway. Finding no one home, they sent me another e-mail letting me know the tech was there, but he could not proceed without the necessary documentation. Nearly two hours later, they sent yet another e-mail telling me the tech was ready to start, but they needed the documentation to proceed.
Since I was out of town and not checking e-mail, I was unaware of any of it until the following week when I returned home and listened to phone messages. When I returned the calls, I found out that they'd not only been out and performed the tests without my authorization, but they'd made unauthorized repairs as well. They wanted my credit card information so they could charge it, and I refused.
Fast forward a month, and I am in receipt of a letter from the President demanding payment or they will turn the account over to a collection agency who will add 33% to the total and file a mechanic's lien on our property. I feel as though he is threatening me and using bully tactics to get payment for work that they did without my permission. It was HIS company and HIS employees that violated HIS OWN policy, and yet he wants ME to pay for it. The man needs to get over himself, suck up his loss, and either change his policy or quit telling people it's required or they won't come out.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
American Leak Detection of Fort Worth
Keller,Texas,
Response to complaint
#4UPDATE Employee ..inside information
Tue, November 19, 2013
The good news for Mrs. Wilson of Keene, TX is that we found and fixed her pool leak. The bad news is that she feels misled.
For over 26 years, American Leak Detection of Ft. Worth has been faithfully serving customers and has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Longevity and an excellent reputation are not usually characteristics associated with "rip-off" artists.
At times, demand for our services can be so great that customers may unfortunately have to wait one to two weeks for an appointment. Such was the case when the customer called us with a leak problem. Mrs. Wilson scheduled an appointment on the first available service date, but stated she would be out of town. We assured her that we could still perform the service without her presence if she supplied a credit card for our file, allowing payment processing for quoted pricing in her absence. She also stated that she was driving at the time, so she would have to call back with her credit card information. Sensitive to the fact that some of our customers are upset for having to wait so long for service, we are hesitant to miss scheduled appointments for anything within our control.
By the time of the appointment the customer had not called back with her credit card information, however we knew she would be out of town (which would explain why she had not responded to several confirmation phone calls and emails). We had not received a call to cancel the appointment so we presumed she still needed to find and repair her pool leak. We assumed wrong and for that we apologize.
In doing our best to service the customer and spare them further wait time and water loss, we kept the appointment and completed the job in good faith.
American Leak Detection PR
Palm Springs,California,
Response to complaint
#4UPDATE Employee ..inside information
Tue, November 19, 2013
The good news for Mrs. Wilson of Keene, TX is that we found and fixed her pool leak. The bad news is that she feels misled.
For over 26 years, American Leak Detection of Ft. Worth has been faithfully serving customers and has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Longevity and an excellent reputation are not usually characteristics associated with "rip-off" artists.
At times, demand for our services can be so great that customers may unfortunately have to wait one to two weeks for an appointment. Such was the case when the customer called us with a leak problem. Mrs. Wilson scheduled an appointment on the first available service date, but stated she would be out of town. We assured her that we could still perform the service without her presence if she supplied a credit card for our file, allowing payment processing for quoted pricing in her absence. She also stated that she was driving at the time, so she would have to call back with her credit card information. Sensitive to the fact that some of our customers are upset for having to wait so long for service, we are hesitant to miss scheduled appointments for anything within our control.
By the time of the appointment the customer had not called back with her credit card information, however we knew she would be out of town (which would explain why she had not responded to several confirmation phone calls and emails). We had not received a call to cancel the appointment so we presumed she still needed to find and repair her pool leak. We assumed wrong and for that we apologize.
In doing our best to service the customer and spare them further wait time and water loss, we kept the appointment and completed the job in good faith.
donnafayesw
Keene,Texas,
SATISFIED WITH RESOLUTION, BUT NOT THEIR ATTITUDE
#4Author of original report
Fri, November 15, 2013
I received a phone call last week from someone who claimed to be co-owner. I was initially told that I owe nothing and no further action would be taken, and that pleased me.
But after a lenghty conversation full of innuendoes about all the favors they had done for me by going against their own policy and sending a tech out to perform an unauthorized leak test and subsequent repairs without a signed release or credit card on file, the conversation ended with, "Well, you got a free leak inspection and repair."
They then offered to send me a gift card in exchange for removing my complaint from this web site or at least stating that the issue had been resolved to my satisifaction. I declined the gift card as I was never looking to get anything for free.
Happy that they were not going to make good on their threats, but disappointed with their attitude, I put off updating this report in the hopes that after a few days I wouldn't feel so displeased. I wanted to be genuine when writing about my satisifaction. But today I received the following written response from them to a complaint I'd made with the BBB:
"Unfortunately for our customers, demand for our services can be so great, at times, that they may have to wait one to two weeks for us to address their needs. Such was the case when Mrs. Wilson called us with a pool leak problem and, when she advised us that she would be out of town on our first available service date, we stated we could still perform our service without her present if she supplied a credit card for us to have on file allowing us to process payment for quoted pricing in her absence. Mrs. Wilson advised us, since she was driving at the time, that she would call us back with her Discover card information.
Nearly two weeks passed. Sensitive to the fact that some of our customers are upset with us for having to wait so long for our service, we are hesitant to miss our scheduled appointment for anything within our control. Though we noticed Mrs. Wilson had not called back with her Discover card information, knew she was going to be out of town which could explain why she had not responded to several confirmation phone calls and emails, and had not received a call to cancel the appointment, we assumed she still needed us to find her pool leak.
We assumed wrong and for that we apologized to her in a phone conversation on November 15, 2013 (prior to receiving this complaint). The decision to proceed with the leak detection was made, in our judgment, in the best interest of the customer. Our authorization form does state that it needs to be signed and returned prior to our visit, but most customers are upset if you don’t show up, not if you do. We advised Mrs Wilson that her leak detection and repair is free. She also apologized and agreed that the issue is resolved to her satisfaction."
Their written response is very much in line with their verbal response, and I must say, it does not leave me feeling any warm fuzzies over it. I am especially disturbed by their emphasis on what I failed to do rather than acknowledging their own failure. Since I had not signed their release or provided them with my credit card information as they requested, was it not reasonable for me to expect that in the absence of any further communication they would cancel the appointment automatically? They told me both verbally and in writing that they would not send a tech out without a signed work release and my credit card information on file, yet they did it anyway.
Regardless of how feel about the company apologizing and placing the blame on me in the same breath, I can say that I am satistified with their decision not to try and hold me accountable for their own mistakes.